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mwplanet · 1 year

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FIFA: The World’s Biggest Competition Returns

The FIFA World Cup is officially underway

By Franchesca D.

Some of the best players in this year’s World Cup

Photo via FIFA

The 2022 FIFA World Cup began on November 20, 2022 in Qatar, and already holds the world’s rapt attention.

For those unfamiliar with the FIFA World Cup, it is the biggest tournament for international soccer held every four years. It is one of the most watched sports competitions around the world, with more than 3.5 billion viewers during the 2018 World Cup and the 2022 World Cup expected to reach an audience of 5 billion.

The FIFA World Cup Qualifiers is a lengthy process that occurs years before the final tournament. Each of FIFA’s six regional soccer confederations holds preliminary tournaments and qualifier matches. The six FIFA confederations are UEFA (Europe), CONMEBOL (South America), CONCACAF (North, Central America and the Caribbean), AFC (Asia plus Australia), CAF (Africa), and OFC (Oceania). Teams in each league play each other for points; a win is worth three points, a draw is worth one point and a loss is worth no points. The teams with the most points at the end of the qualifying period advance to the World Cup to represent their confederation. However, this means that not all confederations may be represented.

Now the World Cup. The teams are split into eight groups of four teams, with groups lettered A to H. Each group was created through a random draw out of four points in April, with teams placed in pots based on their FIFA world ranking. The top two teams of each group advance to the round of 16. The winner of each group plays the runner-up of the succeeding letter group until there are only 8 teams left. For example, the first seed of Group A would play the second seed of Group B. In the case where two teams are tied in points, the first-place team is the team with the highest point differential. The knockout rounds continue to the quarterfinals, where eight teams battle for a place as one of the four teams in the semi-finals. The top two teams from the semi-finals play against each other in the finals for the FIFA World Cup trophy and the title of FIFA World Champions.

There are many strong contenders in this year’s tournament, with Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, and the reigning champion France all having strong chances of winning. The top soccer players are also scheduled to make appearances with their respective teams, including stars like Kylian Mbappe (France), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), and Neymar (Brazil) showcasing their skills. With this World Cup being the final tournament of beloved players like Ronaldo and Messi (and possibly Neymar), fans and players alike are tuning in to watch them play one last time.

The tournament so far has seen some shocking results, specifically Argentina’s 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia. Argentina was higher ranked and a team favoured to win the Cup; viewers expected an easy win against Saudi Arabia on November 22. However, when Saudi Arabia, a team expected to lose, won against Argentina and fan-favourite Messi, it became one of the biggest upsets in the tournament.

Canada has also created history. This is the first Canadian team to play in the World Cup since 1986 in Mexico and the second time Canada qualified for the World Cup in history. They played against Belgium and Croatia, with a 1-0 and 4-1 loss respectively. In their Croatia game, Canada made history as they scored their first goal in their World Cup history. Canada recently played against Morocco, hoping for a win, but lost 2-1. Unfortunately, Canada will not advance to the knockout round of 16.

Canada star Alphonso Davies celebrates Canada’s first World Cup goal

Photo via CBC

The countries advancing to the round of 16 are Argentina, the USA, France, Poland, the Netherlands, Croatia, England, Senegal, Morocco, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Switzerland, South Korea, and Brazil. As of December 5th, Argentina, France, the Netherlands, Croatia and England are moving on to the quarter finals, eliminating Australia, the USA, Poland, Senegal, and Japan in the process.

Despite all that has already occurred, the FIFA World Cup is far from over, and fans from around the world are anticipatedly waiting and watching to see who comes out on top.

#franchesca dairo #sports #fifa world cup #mary ward #mary ward planet #fifa #canada world cup

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chaoticoverthinker · 3 years

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Blog #12

September 10th, 2021

It’s been three months since the last time I used this, so I figure I’d share what’s been going on.

Since April, I heard about unfortunate tragedies from one family to the next as it was difficult to process what has been going on all the way through August. May those who lost their lives Rest In Peace.

My family went to Mexico for a month as I stayed behind to tend the house and the chickens. Part of me felt sad because I was alone without having them around. Soon, I’ll have to get used to the feeling when I get my own place. In summary, I watched childhood movies and TV shows, notably Squanto: a Warrior's Tale, Johnny Tsunami, Tale Spin, Gargoyles, all of the Halloween Town movies, and Hocus Pocus for the first time. Aside from Disney Plus, I watched FIFA World Cup matches on repeat.

The first time I remember watching FIFA was back in 2006 when Mexico played Portugal and they lost 2-1 in the group stage. At the time, I wasn't familiar with the group stage and knockout rounds that I thought Portugal eliminated Mexico which wasn't the case. It was Argentina. Mexico lost to them 2-1 in the round of 16 when Maxi Rodriguez controlled the ball from his chest and curved the ball in the net which was impressive but humiliating as a Mexico fan. Argentina faced Germany in the quarter-finals and lost in a penalty shoot-out. Germany advanced to the semi-finals and lost to Italy. Germany faced Portugal in the playoff round and beat them 3-1. Because Germany beat both Portugal and Argentina that was the year I became a Germany fan. In the final round, Kim and Den rooted for Italy and I rooted for France. And then there was the infamous moment when Zinedine Zidane headbutt Marco Materazzi. France lost to Italy and the Italians became the 4-time world cup winners. In 2010, the first world cup tournament match kicked off with the host South Africa facing Mexico which ended in a draw. They won against France and lost to Uruguay. Mexico paired up against Argentina again in the Round of 16. The first goal Argentina scored was controversial as it was ruled offside years later but we, Mexico fans, called it offside that moment. We lost 3-1 and were eliminated. In the other round match, Germany trashed England 4-1. During that match, I received a phone call from Food Lion. I applied for a part-time position as I was heading to my senior year at high school. Germany faced Argentina in the quarter-finals again and the result was even sweeter than before. Germany destroyed Argentian 4- nil and cruised to the semi-finals and lost to Spain. Germany faced Uruguay in the playoff round and won 3rd place for the second time, ending their campaign. In 2014, Mexico lost against the Netherlands 2-1 and Robben is still a fragile bitch for diving. The other memorable event was Germany beating Argentina yet again to become the 4-time world cup champion and destroying the host, Brazil 7-1 in the semifinal. In 2018, Mexico pulled an upset win over the defending champion, Germany 1-nil. Our celebration caused a mini earthquake, which shows how hyped we were. The hype continued when we beat South Korea 1-2. The hype was gone when we lost to Sweden 3-nil that almost send us home but South Korea saved us by beating Germany 2-nil sending them home early in the group stage. We were up against Brazil in the round of 16 but we lost the match and were eliminated in the Round of 16 for the 7th time in a row!! The replayed match I watched was Brazil vs Germany (2014), Mexico vs Germany (2018), Brazil vs the Netherlands (2010), and England vs Germany (2010). These matches reconnected my passion for international football. I stopped watching because Fox Deportes sold the Premier League rights to NBC sports and I was never able to watch Arsenal FC, my favorite English club play again on TV.

There was a shortage of gasoline, allegedly. There may have not been a shortage of gas but people who were panic buying gas were the reason the gas shortage was happening.

July 29th was my last day of summer class which wraps up my senior year. On August 28th, all of my course credentials were finalized, which gave me the green light for graduation. I originally thought I would walk the stage back in May but I decided to wait until December for my commencement ceremony. Now that I’m done with school, I’m working all I can to make up the summertime that I missed.

With the free time I have, I picked up a hobby to keep myself occupied……..if only that hobby didn’t involve spending money on Godzilla funko pops and action figures. But I’m not sorry about it. I’ll go broke before hating the franchise and you can’t change my mind :P

On August 29th, I hurt my back while emptying the trash can into the compactor. I first injured my back in ‘09 when I was at the convention center downtown and helped pack the merchandise into the truck trailer. Instead of lifting with my legs like I was supposed to, I lifted boxes with my back like an idiot the whole day. After the soccer (FUCKING term) season ended, I felt the pain emerging and it hasn’t stopped ever since. It’s been an on-and-off pain. The night before Sunday, I couldn’t sleep because my back was hurting so bad. I thought that if I was a bit more active at work, the pain would ease. Nope. That didn’t happen. As soon as I clocked in, the SM asked me to stack pallets outside the store beside the bushes near the road where the containers usually are during the holidays. Everything was going okay so far if only I had someone competent to work with. After that was done, for some reason, the SM asked me to clean up the trash next to the dumpster and put it in the gray trash can. Afterward, I lifted the can with my right hand on the top and my left hand on the bottom, with one knee on the floor and the other knee bend. Mind you, I didn’t use my back but that didn’t matter when I felt the sharp pain strike down my lower spine. I can blame the incompetent kid who was just standing there waiting for orders but I can only blame myself. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t move. I sat on the chair in the break room and couldn’t get up without leaning onto the table. In the stockroom, I stretched my back all I could but it was no use. I finally admitted to the SM that I have a history of back pain and will no longer lift heavy objects. Rather than filling in the incident report like a moron, I toughed it out by standing on that goddamn Amazon table tower with this pain for 8 hours. Afterward, I went home and took a nap. The nap only made it worse as I couldn’t stand on my own two feet. I was crawling on my knees to get to the bathroom and had to change into my shorts while laying down. I was forced to call out the following day before having a 4 day off, which I’m thankful for rather than complaining about getting my hours cut. After breaking my back for that company, I finally had enough and motivated myself to fill out as many job applications as I possibly can to get the hell outta dodge!

September 6th marked my 5-year anniversary at Kohl’s. Ever since late July, I applied for several jobs so that I can leave Kohl’s but I had no luck so far. Now that I’m done with school, this is the time to think about my future and finances in the next couple of years. It's unbelievable how I went through thick and thin to be here where I'm at. I started college in 2011 and went through mostly the lows to get here. I lost hope when I was at McDonald’s but Keith’s words of wisdom motivated me to get the hell out of there and go from the gas station job to here. My 10-year school journey has come to an end and it’s time my journey here at Kohl’s ends as well. As of now, I’m still here but the job hunt is still going on. My only hope is to get out before the holidays come.

#journal #diary entry #personal blog #rant post #workplace #kohls

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worldticketsandhospitality · 2 years

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Qatar World Cup: Foot injury puts Ferran Torres in doubt for big Spain Football games

The Spain Football World Cup forward writhed a broken bone in his right foot while on international duty during the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers.

Fans from all over the world are called to book Football World Cup tickets from our online platforms WorldWideTicketsandHospitality.com. Football World Cup fans can book Spain Football World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

Manchester City forward Ferran Torres has wrecked a bone in his right foot, the English club said, potentially sovereign him out of Spain Football side vital FIFA World Cup qualifiers next month.

The city said the injury was a small fracture and happened while Torres was on international duty with the Spain Football World Cup team. He played for Spain in the Nations League last week, first in the 2-1 win over Italy when Torres scored twice and then the 2-1 loss to France in the final.

He has since reimbursed to Manchester for tests and will continue to be checked, said City, which didn't give a timeframe for Torres' possible absence. Torres has customary himself as a regular in Spain Football World Cup team under Luis Enrique and one of its best source of goals. To know more about Qatar World Cup Tickets click here.

Spain Football World Cup team is two points behind lead Sweden in their Qatar World Cup qualifying group heading into their final two games. The two countries play each other in the last one, on Nov. 14, and only the first-place team automatically spreads to next year's tournament in Qatar.

However, subsequent tests have now revealed the range of the striker’s injury and it is likely to force him out of a period of vital examinations for both club and country.

The city faces a Manchester derby at Old Trafford plus a Champions League clash with Paris St Germain within the next six weeks, while Spain Football World Cup team play FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers against Greece and Sweden this month.

We are offering tickets for Qatar World Cup admirers who can get Qatar Football World Cup Tickets through our trusted online ticketing marketplace. Worldwideticketsandhospitality.com is the most reliable source to book Qatar Football World Cup Hospitality tickets and Football World Cup Packages & Sign Up for the latest Tickets alerts.

#spainfootballworldcuptickets #fifaworldcuptickets #footballworldcuptickets #qatarworldcuptickets #worldcuptickets

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thefalse9 · 6 years

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World Cup 2018 Preview: Group B - Spain

A sleeping giant has rebuilt, reformed and is ready to unleash once again upon the world. With international retirement looming for the stars of the past, a new core is coming to the forefront and blazing a new trail for the future while accepting the torch they’re being passed.

Captain: Sergio Ramos Manager: Julen Lopetegui Nickname: La Roja FIFA Rank (as of April 12, 2018): 8

How They Qualified:

Spain sailed through qualification, winning 9 games, drawing one. They scored 36 goals, gave up only 3 (!) and did it while playing open, attacking, possession-based football that has become the staple of this team, this nation and this league. In Spain, football is religion, and this style of play? A commandment. You can win, but you better win with style. They have and in the process? They’ve been able to implement new players into the squad, like Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio, Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez and their latest talisman, Real Madrid’s Isco. The standout performance was a 3-0 victory over Italy which should have been 5-0 if we’re being honest; a performance that put the world on notice that La Roja was back.

Biggest Strength:

Spain’s biggest strength during their glory years was their ability to stifle you by retaining possession and controlling the pace of play. They were better creatively, technically and tactically. Lopetegui has taken that style, adapted it to the current state of football and built upon the foundation of the past while instilling a renewed vigor for pressing, playing defense and recovering the ball from their opponents. Veteran leadership from Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and David Silva will help this team as they get deeper in the tournament, but the audacious nature of the youthful “new generation” of this team; Niguez, Asensio, Isco, all share a fearless confidence in themselves to take on anybody and anything. The audacity and the balls to just go out there and take a game by the “tostones” is something this team has been missing.

Biggest Weakness:

For all the possession and creativity, they have trouble turning it into goals. They’ll have posession for 70% of the game, but not see results in the attacking half. The ongoing search for a first-choice striker continues even two weeks out from the start of the World Cup and that’s a problem. Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata, Rodrigo Moreno, and Iago Aspas have all been tried at the Striker position and none has stuck. Luckily, Marco Asensio playing as a “False 9″, or a Striker who sits a bit deeper in the offensive line, falling back toward midfield or the wing during build-up play, has been incredibly successful up-front and could be a hidden force come June.

Star Player(s):

For all the experience and the veteran leadership on this team, it has been the creation and the nerve brought to this squad by Marco Asensio and Isco that has revolutionized this squad. Isco is the handpicked successor to the legendary Andres Iniesta and has been the main string-puller for this squad, creating chances, linking play from deep in midfield and cracking the occasional astonishing goal from 20-30 yards out with a deft touch that few possess, but holds true to the history and legend of the famous Spanish midfielders of the past. Meanwhile, Zinedine Zidane may have a treasure trove of young Spanish talent in Madrid, but Marco Asensio may be the crown jewel of them all. At such a young age, he has commanded games, never looked out of his element, has attacked with pace, creativity, tenacity, and a skill wildly beyond his years. While most would take years to fully transition from starlet to full-blown supernova, Asensio has been seamless, the duo the would-be leaders of a new “golden generation” for Spanish football. The rich get richer and it looks like the future has a distinctly Madrid-based flavor to it.

Prediction:

Spain has as much talent and experience as any other country in this year’s tournament, but brings with them a bevy of individual talent that no other country in this tournament can count on. If they click? Watch out. That 3-0 thrashing of Italy in what was effectively the last warm-up game before the World Cup was a showcase of a team peaking and cresting at the right time, with youth and experience mixing correctly to produce nothing short of magic. If everything plays out correctly? The old guard should walk off into the sunset with a Winner’s Medal while the new generation grabs a hold of the torch for the next decade plus with a start they couldn’t have scripted any better.

#spain #spanish national team #fifa #world cup 2018 #marco asensio #isco

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tkmedia · 3 years

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Olympic rivalries to keep an eye on in Tokyo

Rivalries don't have to be longstanding when it comes to the Olympics. However, that tends to make things more fun if they happen to be. Some are promising while others might just be starting out. Here's a look at some established and potential rivalries that could be renewed or brewing at the Tokyo Summer Games. 1 of 17

Men's basketball: United States vs. Spain

Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports The Americans are eying a fourth consecutive Olympic men's basketball gold medal. With Kevin Durant (seeking his third gold) leading the way, plus Damian Lillard and Devin Booker also on the roster, it would be a shock if Team USA didn't prevail. That said, Spain is the No. 2 team in the world and features veteran talent in brothers Paul and Marc Gasol, plus guard Ricky Rubio. The Spaniards won Olympic silver in 2008 and '12 before earning a bronze medal in 2016. 2 of 17

Men's skateboarding: Nyjah Huston (United States) vs. Yuto Horigome (Japan)

Robert Hanashiro/USA TODAY Sports Skateboarding is one of the new sports added to the Tokyo Summer Olympics program. And, it might be the most anticipated of the newcomers. Huston is arguably the biggest and most well--known personality in the sport and a four-time world champion in the Street competition. However, host favorite Horigome topped Huston in a recent competition that leads pundits of the sport to believe he might have the inside track for gold in Tokyo this summer. 3 of 17

Women's skateboarding: Sky Brown (Great Britain) vs. Kokona Hiraki (Japan)

Brian Powers/The Register via Imagn Content Services, LLC/USA TODAY No offense to Japanese medal hopefuls Misugu Okamoto and Sakura Yosozumi, but skateboarding fans would love to see these two young sensations be in the hunt for the gold. Also from Japan, 12-year-old Hiraki might be a long shot for gold, but she finished fifth at the final Olympic qualifier -- also a Dew Tour event -- in the Park discipline. Brown, who will be 13 when these Games start, was born to a Japanese mother and British father. She's among the most exciting skaters in the world and should be in the hunt for an Olympic medal after recovering from a head injury following a serious training fall. 4 of 17

Women's soccer: United States vs. Japan

David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports It's common knowledge that the USWNT has some unfinished business to take care of in Tokyo this summer after being stunned by Sweden in penalties in the 2016 quarterfinals at Rio. The Americans are no doubt the favorite to win gold, which they've won four times over the six tournaments in Olympic history. While the U.S. has a solid mix of seasoned veterans and some up-and-coming, dependable talent, host Japan, which brought home silver in 2012, is a somewhat young, but certainly hungry group that could potentially make things interesting. 5 of 17

Softball: United States vs. Japan

Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire Softball is back on the Olympic card. And the United States is looking to once again regain its place at the top of the international softball pedestal. The Americans won the first three Olympic golds before losing to Japan in the 2008 final -- the most recent Games the sport was held. It's expected that the U.S., with legends Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman on the roster, and host Japan will again compete for gold among the six teams in the field. The two nations will meet in the group stage on July 26. Robert Hanashiro/USA TODAY Sports Another new sport to the Olympic docket is surfing. And, when it comes to the women's side of the event, it should be quite the one-two punch when it comes to winning gold. Hawaii-native Carissa Moore is the reigning world champion, and surfing experts consider her the favorite for gold in Tokyo. However, Gilmore is a seven-time world champion and the queen of the cutback. There's no doubt she's been waiting for this moment. Should be fun. 7 of 17

Men's men’s 4x100 medley relay: United States vs. Great Britain

Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY Sports What's remarkable is that the United States has won gold in the 4x100 medley relay at every Olympics its taken part in since the inception of the event at the 1960 Games. While the American squad is certainly talented with the likes of Ryan Murphy and Caeleb Dressel on board, Great Britain topped the U.S. in the event at the 2019 world championships. Adam Peaty and Duncan Scott are two of the best in the world, but do they have enough to end the Americans' reign in the 4x100? 8 of 17

Women's swimming 100-meter breaststroke: Lilly King (USA) vs. Yulia Efimova (Russian Olympic Committee)

Gian Mattia D'Alberto/LaPresse/Icon Sportswire The rivalry between King and Efimova was essentially born during the 2016 Olympic Games at Rio. King wasn't happy about Efimova's doping ban, gave a famous finger wag, then went out and beat the Russian in the 100 breaststroke. Entering the Tokyo Games, King is the undisputed favorite while Efimova might be hard-pressed to challenge for the gold. Still, getting another chance to compete against King could make this one race to watch. 9 of 17

Women's swimming 200-, 400- and 800-meters: Katie Ledecky (USA) vs. Ariarne Titmus (Australia)

Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY Sports Ledecky is a five-time Olympic gold-medal winner and reigning champion in each the 200, 400 and 800. However, enough international swim analysts believe the upstart 20-year-old Titmus could end up touching the wall ahead of Ledecky in all three events at Tokyo that the Tasmania-born budding star has taken over as favorite. Titmus nearly delivered a world-record performance in the 200 and 400 at the Australian Olympic trials and should have plenty of confidence entering these Games -- even with the mighty Ledecky in the way. 10 of 17

Women's swimming 4x100 medley relay: United States vs. Australia

Andrew Cowie/Colorsport/Icon Sportswire The U.S. women won gold in this event at both the 2008 and '12 Olympic Games. But even with the likes of Lilly King leading the charge for the Americans, a talented Australian group might have what it takes to dethrone the U.S. in Tokyo this summer. Aussie Cate Campbell thrives as the likely relay anchor while Kylee McKeown is among the top backstroke swimmers in the world. The U.S.-Australia rivalry in the pool is expected to be quite entertaining in Tokyo. 11 of 17

Mixed swimming 4x100 medley relay: Lilly King (USA) vs. Adam Peaty (Great Britain)

Insidefoto/Imago/Icon Sportswire One of the new events on the Tokyo swim program is the mixed 4x100 medley relay. Two men and two women will swim for each country, covering the four primary strokes -- backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle. So, wouldn't it be something if King and Peaty, the two premier stars of the breaststroke in the world, find themselves head-to-head with the inaugural gold medal on the line? Olympics swim fans can only hope. 12 of 17

Men's 100 meters: Trayvon Bromell (USA) vs. Ronnie Baker (USA) vs. Akani Simbine (South Africa) vs. Andre De Grasse (Canada)

Steph Chambers/Getty Images Usain Bolt has left the Olympic stage, opening the door for a new star to emerge. Many sprint pundits feel Bromell could be the guy in the 100. After recovering from two Achilles surgeries to repair a bone spur, Bromell finally appears ready for prime time. That said, fellow American Ronnie Baker should not be cast-off as only a silver-medal favorite. Not to mention, international standouts in De Grasse, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, and the uber-talented Simbine -- each seemingly worthy of challenging for the title of "fastest man in the world." 13 of 17

Men's 200 meters: Noah Lyles (USA) vs. Erriyon Knighton (USA)

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports There will be plenty of eyes on Lyles, who enters his much-anticipated Olympic moment as the favorite in the 200. He didn't totally dominate at the U.S. track and field trials last month, but we'd be stunned if he wasn't on top of his game for the 200 in Tokyo. Knighton, meanwhile, is a 17-year-old phenom who might be that one youngster that captures the world with a superstar showing at the Olympics. It would not be a shock to see Knighton (who already has bested Bolt's Under-18 records in the 200) push his American teammate for the gold this summer. 14 of 17

Men's 400-meter hurdles: Rai Benjamin (USA) vs. Karsten Warholm (Norway)

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Let's consider this more of a potential upset special than anything else. Warholm is a world champion and record-holder in the 400 hurdles with a time of 46.70 seconds. That makes him a heavy favorite to win gold at Tokyo. But, Benjamin has continued to progress to an elite level and should seriously challenge Warholm. Thus, potentially creating a rivalry that could become pretty special. 15 of 17

400-meter women's hurdles: Sydney McLaughlin (USA) vs. Dalilah Muhammad (USA)

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports This might be the race to watch over the entire women's track and field program at Tokyo. Muhammad won gold in the 400 hurdles at the 2016 Summer Games. McLaughlin, however, now holds the world record in the event (51.90 seconds) after she edged Muhammad in the final of the U.S. track and field trials last month -- besting her teammate's mark by 0.26 seconds. Assuming everything falls into place for the two Americans, the final of the 400 hurdles at Tokyo should be appointment viewing. 16 of 17

Men's tennis: Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

Susan Mullane/USA TODAY Sports Between them, Federer and world No. 1-ranked Djokovic have won nearly 40 Grand Slam titles. But, two of men's tennis' best of all time will try again to win Olympic singles gold for the first time. These two, along with Andy Murray, highlight the men's Olympic tennis field this summer at Tokyo. It would seem highly probable that Federer and Djokovic could square off in the gold-medal match with their own personal history on the line. 17 of 17

Women's tennis: Naomi Osaka (Japan) vs. Coco Gauff (United States)

Susan Mullane/USA TODAY Sports There will be no Williams' sister vying for Olympic gold in Tokyo. However, Osaka's return to the court is one of the biggest non-American storylines at this year's Summer Games. After pulling out of the French Open for a mental-health break, the 23-year-old Osaka will be the star attraction for the home nation. The two-time U.S. Open champ is favored to win singles gold. The 17-year-old Gauff is the marquee name on the American squad and it would be something to see the two square off with an Olympic gold medal on the line. Jeff Mezydlo has written about sports and entertainment online and for print for more than 25 years. He grew up in the far south suburbs of Chicago, 20 minutes from the Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting, Ind. He’s also the proud father of 11-year-old Matthew, aka “Bobby Bruin,” mascot of St. Robert Bellarmine School in Chicago. You can follow Jeff at @jeffm401. Read the full article

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mmidangkorn · 3 years

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Borussia - The League Path to Champions

When most people think of football, they immediately think of the World Cup. Whether you are a fan or an avid follower of the sport, there is no denying the popularity of the competition that has swept the nation and many parts of the world for almost 30 years now. It's truly one of the major international sports events that has been a part of the game we call "football." With so much hype leading up to each match, it can be difficult to keep track of all the ups and downs that take place throughout the season. The main event itself is the FIFA World Cup, which is the most well-known of these competitions.

From the main article above, it would appear that the premier competition will take place in 29 May 2021. It is a tournament organized by the Federation of International Football Associations or FIFA. The dates of the tournaments are usually set by the countries participating, but the calendar has always been published in advance. วิเคราะห์-บอล-คืน-นี้ แม่น-ๆ

The teams that will be taking part are: the European champion holders (France, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Brazil) plus the four nations who qualified for the European Championship (Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Germany) plus the three World Cup winners: Netherlands, Brazil and Spain. The Premier League was the first English league to introduce a points system for its players. The system is based on the number of goals scored against the opponents and gives bonus points to the winners. The system became popular in the United Kingdom and has since spread around the globe, even into South Africa where the team called the Springboks are famous.

The first season of the championship series was held in Germany. During the first game, Borussia Dortmund defeated Nchengladbach and earned a 3rd place. The following season saw another great competition and Borussia qualified for the championships in England. The third season was more open due to the arrival of European super teams and several other teams joined the competition, which led to qualification for the World Cup. This gave Borussia a greater exposure and made it easier for Borussia Borscht to get into the finals of the league.

As mentioned before, the knockout phase of the competition consists of seven games. Each team is assigned a number of points depending on how many goals they win and lose and if they qualify for the next stage. At the end of the knockout phase, the winning team is chosen by the tournament organizer and receives one additional point. The teams play until they reach the last four and the winner is chosen by a special referee.

There are various reasons why Borussia have managed to reach the top of the league path and become one of the best teams in Europe. Some of the teams that achieved success started out as Borussia rivals. Mats Hummel played for Borussia against Manchester United for three years and later became a coach with Zenit St. Petersburg. Another famous player of Borussia is Henrikh Mkhitarybat and is now in charge of the national team. A lot has happened for Borussia over the past few years and I believe it is only getting better.

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butkickers · 4 years

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#WEURO2022 September Qualifiers: The powerhouses march on, and other things we learned

The September FIFA/UEFA international break is over and as the players rush back to their clubs to continue their season, as if we are not in the middle of a global pandemic, we bring you the highlights and talking points of a window that has brought us a clearer picture of the teams likely to qualify for the WEURO 2022 in England.

Let’s remember that it had been six months since the last time the teams had a national team camp, and the excitement could barely be contained. Of course this means we are getting an OranjeLeeuwinnen video very shortly, and that can only mean good things.

Less drubbings, but goals galore

It is the beginning of the season after a long and unprecedented COVID break, and this meant that not all players were available for selection, and in some cases, teams were not expecting to bring full sides or fully fit outfits into the equation. This meant that across 28 games, only five of them ended in a genuine drubbing (seven goals or more). These game involved teams ranked lower than 40th in the FIFA ranks, though – the list below records their current ranking.

Sweden 8 – 0 Hungary (43th)

Iceland 9 – 0 Latvia (93rd)

Moldova 0 (92nd) – 9 Spain

Malta (101st) 0 – 8 Denmark

North Macedonia (129th) 0 – 7 France

All in all, given North Macedonia’s position in the rankings and the fact that France did play with many of their stars, it is actually not a bad result for the Balkan team.

A noteworthy result was Spain’s annihilation of Moldova. Not a surprising result, given the star studded starting XI in the Spanish side, but more the manner in which they put away a lesser team, with clinical precision and a style that it’s normally reserved for Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and other powerhouses. On the other hand, the national team coach Jorge Vilda played his better side and refrained from making any meaningful substitutions despite the gulf in quality and on the scoreboard. The debuts of exciting players such as Peke or Teresa Abelleira (the latter a key cog of the under-19 team in previous tournaments) will have to be postponed to October.

German style a sight to behold

Germany had been putting teams to the sword consistently and quietly during the 2019 campaign, therefore their approach to their assignments during this window is both innovative and to be expected from MVT’s side. Voss-Tecklenburg takes no prisoners: she will pick the most in-form team, regardless of age or status. Her confidence in Lena Oberdorf, for example, has turned the Wolfsburg signing into one of the scariest prospects of the future. If she can dominate games from the backline at age 18, where is the limit? But then when you have a player of the calibre of Dzsenifer Marozsan in the team, anything can happen.

Marozsan saluted in the game against Montenegro, a match that ended 3-0 with Germany’s third squad and various cameos. Bringing 100 caps in a German shift is no easy feat, and the Hungarian-born midfielder is now at a stage in her career where the captaincy of the national team demands her leadership to achieve further silverware. Germany is travelling far too well right now and their depth should worry the rest of the competition.

Injuries sour the return to action

They were bound to happen. Three weeks into the season, despite all the preparation, and here they were. It was less than surprising to see not so many players get injured on the field, but be rested or returning from the camp early, like Jill Roord and Danielle van de Donk.

The two main victims of UEFA injury ‘virus’ were Germany’s Giulia Gwinn and Switzerland’s Viola Calligaris, with both incidents happening during their game. Gwinn went down with an ACL tear, unfortunately, and will miss the remainder of the season. This is very disappointing news for the FC Bayern young star, who had knee issues during the early part of 2019 which stopped her from reaching her full potential last season. Calligaris broke her arm, and had to have surgery to repair the fracture. A timeline for her return has yet to be announced, but we’d expect her to miss the beginning of Primera Iberdrola with her current team, Levante UD.

Collective hysteria temporarily took hold of the FC Barcelona Twitter fan base when Caroline Graham Hansen went down with an ankle injury after a tackle in the 70th minute of the Norway v Wales game. Hansen later dismissed the concern based on the information provided by the team’s physio. It is unlikely it will stop her from facing new rivals Real Madrid in 10 days’ time, but we will have to wait and see.

Other flash news in no particular order

Eugenie Le Sommer became France’s all time top scorer with her brace against North Macedonia, bringing her tally to 82 goals. This is across both men’s and women’s teams. The French men’s all-time goal scorer is Thierry Henry with 51 goals.

Norway got the best of Wales… just. The Welsh outfit put on a great shift and with the return of Jess Fishlock after a knee reconstruction, looked tidy and ready to pounce, but the Norwegians left nothing to chance.

Captain Sophie Ingle also raised the bat with 100 caps for Wales.

The Netherlands, Germany and Norway will be able to seal their ticket to the WEURO if they grab points from their scheduled fixtures in the October break. In fact, they can go as far as securing top spot with victories. Belgium has secured at least a play-off spot despite their loss against Switzerland, who now top their group.

Denmark scored 12 goals over two fixtures with a multitude of goal scorers. So much so that Pernille Harder only saw the back of the net once: if that is not news, I do not know what else is.

Isabell Herlovsen announced her retirement from football following the international break, in which she didn’t feature. Whilst she has added 5 goals to her international tally in the WEURO qualifiers so far, her last big stage goal was against the Matildas in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup in France.

Best but?

Norway scored two crackers against Wales, however only one made it to the scoreboard, with Caroline Graham Hansen’s outside the box attempt ruled out for presumably offside. CGH and equally gifted Guro Reiten combined their forces again for the first goal, off a short corner, as they have done many times in the past. O’Sullivan, Wales’ keeper, will be disappointed with her effort, but it is hard to blame it all on the keeper when Maria Thorisdottir was planted right in front of her for most of the play, obscuring the flight of the ball until it was too late. Reiten’s was a crot that Beth Mead would be proud of.

Mind you, you should also watch Marozsan’s effort against Ireland. The one-two combination with Leupolz plus the left foot finish is something only the gifted can pull off.

https://youtu.be/5WMln1N6uwI?t=41m09s

Or Jill Roord’s, who just cannot stop scoring.

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Football marches on despite virus concerns

This international break finished, ironically, on the first day of autumn. And with that, the concerns that a second or third wave of COVID infections, as well as a potential second lockdown, are real in most European countries. Bizarrely, this seems not to be affecting European football, who could afford both a men's and women's international break in the same month, and scattered their players across the continent for the first time in six months. Seven fixtures were postponed, five of them belonging to group E, which features Finland, Scotland, Portugal, Israel and Albania - the situations in some of those countries, added to the budget required to meet all UEFA protocols, making it impossible to play those games.

This situation seems so odd to places like Australia, where COVID restrictions mean hard borders between states and the uncertainty of when (even if) the W-League will commence at all. This, despite several states having been COVID-free for weeks and general restrictions being quite lenient: the Australian rules finals are expected to bring crowds of 25,000 together for games, which at the moment seems a utopia in Europe or America. Things will continue to move forward, but only time will tell how long it will take for the next international break to take place, and whether we can still trust the October round will go ahead.

#women's football #women’s soccer #woso #uefa #weuro 2022 #Guro Reiten #Jill Roord #Dzsenifer Marozsan #oranjeleeuwinnen #German Women’s National Team #Caroline Graham Hansen

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wesleyv21-blog · 6 years

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Headin to the Galapagos!

¡Hola todos y todas! ¡Espero que todo les vaya bien atrás en los EE.UU.!

Ya es muy difícil escribir, hablar, y a veces pensar en el inglés. Los otros estudiantes estadounidenses hablan en ingles frecuentemente cuando estemos juntos, pero aparte de esos ratitos, vivo completamente en el castellano. Y claro una lengua nunca es solo una manera de hablar, sino que es otra manera de pensar, identificarse, e interactuar con lo que se llama el mundo.

Language really is constitutive of reality itself. That sentence was very hard to write after the preceding paragraph haha. The structures and vocab of my language permit me to think about certain realities and also prohibit me from imagining others. Thus my very world is conditioned by my language. For example, last week I spent learning the basics of Kichwa or Runashimi. There’s a particular possessive form in Kichwa that is used exclusively to denote a relationship of such intensity that it can never be broken. So, for example, if I have an unbreakable, inalienable relationship with a particular llama, I can express everything I just expressed in one simple syllable attached to the end of the name of the llama: llamayuk. Fascinating, no? Thus Kichwa conceives of relationships in different ways from the others languages I can speak (not necessarily better or worse ways, just different). Por eso, no se puede aprender una lengua sin que a la misma vez se aprendan una cultura y una filosofía también.

Anyway, here’s some things that have impacted me apart from learning the basics of Kichwa. No, I’ll stick with Kichwa first. Kichwa has 3 vowels, does not change inflection for questions, and is agglutinative (which means to form sentences or change the meaning of words, you add morphemes to the beginning, middle, or end of a word. To some extent, all languages are partially agglutinative, but Kichwa, among others, is particularly so. For example, tanta is bread, tantata makes bread the direct object of some verb, and tantatachu makes it a question as to whether or not the bread exists, is being eaten, etc.). The structure places the subject first, the object second, and the verb last. Always. There are no irregular verbs either. In many ways, it’s a much easier language to learn than either English or Spanish! I just need much more practice because it requires a completely different way of thinking about language than I’m used to. Ñukaka Wesleymi kani (nyoo-KA-ka We-SLEE-mee KA-nee) means “my name is Wesley.” Kanka allkuta charinkichu (KAN-ka ash-KU-ta cha-reen-KEE-choo) means “Do you have a dog?”. Counting is very hard haha. To say 30, you say three-ten. Thus, a number like 5,678 would be as follows: five-thousand six-hundred seven-ten eight, or pichka waranka sukta patsak kanchis chunka pusak! We only did four days of formal instruction, but I’d like to continue learning and practicing. It’s a really unique language that is completely different from anything I’ve ever experienced, and if possible, I’d love to continue speaking it when I return to the U.S.

The legacy of colonialism is long. VERY long. As in, it still traps Ecuador to this day. Here’s a tiny example. During the age of formal colonialism, Ecuador’s natural resources were extracted by Ecuadorians (or African or indigenous slaves) and shipped to Spain. Spain, or another European country, refined those raw materials into a finished product that was then sold back to Ecuador. Even after gaining independence in 1822 and later from Gran Colombia in 1830, this trend has only slightly abated. So, given this, I was only mildly surprised to hear from my host dad as we were eating KFC one day for lunch that until very recently (like a couple of years), Ecuador exported potatoes and imported French fries. Potatoes originated in the Andes, and Ecuador has over 100 different varieties of potatoes. French fries are not that difficult to produce. This is an example of the enduring economic patterns inherited from colonialism that continue to wreak havoc on formerly-colonized countries. This isn’t exclusively the fault of the neocolonial powers (U.S., China, Britain, France, the standouts), as domestic elites benefit from this arrangement of power (which Aníbal Quijano calls the coloniality of power). So, yea, colonialism is still being felt today.

Here’s another example: the state system itself. Originating from the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the concept of the nation-state with unbreachable sovereignty was quickly incorporated into the colonial project begun nearly 200 years earlier in 1492. The state system justified the seizure of alien lands, the violence perpetrated against the original inhabitants of these lands, and the privileges of economic, social, religious, and political control. This system was imposed through physical, structural, and cultural violence. Today, the state system and the concept of citizenship it has engendered obscures the diverse nations that inhabit what is known as Ecuador. These nations have had other names imposed on them, such as “indigenous” or “Indian” or even Kichwa. Those who speak Runashimi call themselves Runa, which simply means people. Let’s not forget the Afro-descendant (this is the English equivalent of the Spanish afrodescendiente which is one of the common words used to self-identify) communities who were kidnapped from their homes and forcibly transplanted here; they constitute their own nation as well. There’s also the Montubio nation out west who forms their own distinct culture as well. Thus the title “Republic of Ecuador” presumes to be a homogenous whole, when it in fact conceals a plurality of peoples and cultures that call this arbitrarily-drawn territory home. It’s the same in the U.S. and every other state in fact.

But, what is so interesting is that the latest Constitution of Ecuador (composed in 2008) defines this place as “democratic, sovereign, independent, unitary, intercultural, plurinational, and lay” (my translation). The Constitution is actually quite progressive, far more so than that of the U.S. It was drafted by civil society members rather than elites. The environment has rights. Healthcare, access to drinking water, and education are declared human rights. Each ancestral nation is recognized and is guaranteed rights and a status concomitant to that of the state itself. Now, of course, the extent to which this amazing document is carried out is not as progressive. But it nevertheless is a high water mark in the history of drafting constitutions. Y’all should check it out.

I went to a soccer game last Wednesday, and damn was it exciting! Soccer really is the ‘beautiful game.’ I would love to investigate it sociologically as well, because it’s a fascinating cultural and political phenomenon. As a tiny example, the first inter-African international organization was, in fact, the CAF, or African Confederation of Football. I think soccer thus possesses interesting socio-political dimensions that as of now are unknown to me. But, as a purely entertaining event, I was thoroughly pleased. Liga Universitaria was playing Phoenix Rising from the U.S. in a friendly match. Liga is the only Ecuadorian team to have won an international tournament, and they’ve won several. Phoenix Rising is a new team that features one of the best players ever, Didier Drogba, in his presumably final years in the game. It was incredibly exciting to watch the match tie 2-2 and then go in Liga’s favor in a penalty shoot-out.

My host mom and grandmother in particular never cease to rave about Ecuador’s food, places to travel, and artisanal crafts and clothes. It’s really cool actually to see that they have so much pride in their country, and I get to find out new things to do or see or buy with each conversation. The individuals I’ve met so far (which is a very small number) have so much to say about the natural beauty of Ecuador as well. Favorites are the Galápagos and the Amazon out in the eastern provinces, and no wonder! La Amazonía is simply incredible, and I’m sure Galápagos will be too!

Over the weekend a group of us went to Baños, which is a tiny, cheap, and fun tourist attraction—and not just American tourists. Baños is especially popular with the Quito crowd, but there were also many people from other Latin American and European countries that I met or observed. When I say Baños is cheap, I mean I got a two-course lunch for $2.50. Our hostal was $10 a night per person. We rented bikes for the entire day for $5 each. Incredible. So we spent the weekend hitting up various nightclubs, going to the hot springs after which Baños is named (though they are nothing compared to the hotsprings at Papallacta), eating at delicious restaurants, ascending a small mountain on whose peak is this swing that is positioned right on the edge of the cliff; but my favorite part was the bike ride we took on Saturday. Our destination was 20 km away, this giant waterfall called Pailón del Diablo. To get there, we biked along the main road for about 2 hours, at times in pouring, driving rain coming down so hard you had to close your eyes and hope for the best. It was an existential experience for me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so alive, precisely because I didn’t know if I’d make it out unscathed. That plus the natural beauty of the landscapes (green mountains shrouded in mist on all sides) and the thrill of reaching high speeds going downhill, through a car tunnel, or climbing a ridge was nothing short of inolvidable. The waterfall too was spectacular and well worth the bike trip. We caught a bus back which only took about 20 minutes! Definitely a weekend well spent!

Yesterday and today we’ve been in class wrapping up our Kichwa section as we transition to the thematic seminar at the heart of the program: Paradigms of Development, which, as my professor declared, is basically a class all about hegemony, power, and resistance. Tomorrow we leave for Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest and most financially powerful city. Thursday we head to the Galápagos Islands! The actual Galápagos Islands! I’m so freaking excited I can’t even begin to describe it! ¡No puedo esperar ni un minuto más! ¡Espero que hayan disfrutado de este episodio del blog! ¡Tendré mucho que contar al regresar de los Galápagos!

Til next time!

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flaunt263mag · 4 years

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Top 15 Football Stars Who Retired in 2019

All good things must come to an end and the retired players make us realise we really are getting old.

As we enter the winter months, most supporters are looking ahead to new players to welcome to their clubs – but it’s also time to remember those who hung up their boots during 2019.

Here are some of the football stars that retired in 2019:

Juan Silveira

Seventy-nine caps for Brazil, for whom he appeared at the 2010 World Cup and won two editions of the Copa America with, plus over 300 appearances of top-flight European football with Bayer Leverkusen and Roma, winning honours with the Italian outfit.

Juan has spent the last seven years back in his home country with Internacional and Flamengo, but the defender bowed out at the ripe old age of 40 at the end of April.

Peter Crouch

The English striker also Known as “Crouchy,” Played for Liverpool, Tottenham, QPR, Portsmouth, Norwich City, Aston Villa, Burnley, Southampton and Stoke City.

He Scored over 167 goals during his time, spent seven-and-a-half years with Stoke, scoring 62 goals before joining Burnley in January 2019. He retired in July 2019.

Diego Forlan

The Uruguayan football manager and former Athletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Manchester United and Villarreal player, who scored over 252 goals during his time.

Forlán also had a successful international career, scoring 36 times for his country between his debut in 2002 and his retirement in 2015, including six goals at FIFA World Cups. On 12 July 2011, at the 2011 Copa América in Argentina, which Uruguay won, Forlán earned his 79th international cap in a match against Mexico, breaking the record held since 1986 by goalkeeper Rodolfo Rodríguez.

On 20 June 2013, in a match against Nigeria at the 2013 Confederations Cup, Forlán became the first Uruguayan to win 100 caps.Forlán was Uruguay’s all-time leading top scorer from 2011 until Luis Suárez overtook him two years later.

Samuel Eto’o

The Former Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid , Chelsea and Everton Striker who won the African Player of the year for Four times : in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010.

A precocious talent, Eto’o moved to Real Madrid as a 16 year old. Due to competition in his position with more experienced players, he had several loan spells, before signing for Mallorca in 2000 where he scored 70 goals. His impressive form saw him join Barcelona in 2004 where he scored 130 goals in five seasons and also became the record holder for the most number of appearances by an African player in La Liga.

Winning La Liga three times, he was a key member of the Barcelona attack, alongside Ronaldinho, that won the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final, with Eto’o scoring in the final, and was part of a front three of Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry that won the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final, with Eto’o again scoring in the final.

He is the second player in history to score in two UEFA Champions League finals. At Barcelona, He came in third for the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2005 and was twice named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI, in 2005 and 2006.

He has participated in four World Cups and six Africa Cup of Nations. He is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations, with 18 goals, and is Cameroon’s all-time leading scorer and third most capped player, with 56 goals in 118 caps.

Eto’o announced his retirement from international football in August 2014, and finally retired from football in 2019.

Wesley Sneijder

The former Ajax, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Galatasaray Midfielder who was named UEFA midfielder of the season and one of the three best midfielders in the world for 2010 by FIFA.

A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he started his professional career playing for Ajax, with whom he won four trophies and was awarded the Johan Cruyff Trophy in 2004.

With 134 caps, he is the most capped Dutch player of all time. He announced his international retirement in March 2018 and finally retired from football in 2019.

Fernando Torres

The 35-year-old played for five clubs – Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea, AC Milan and Sagan Tosu – in his 18-year career, with Torres attaining legendary status at Atletico.

At club level, Torres was able to lift some important trophies. He won the Europa League with Atletico in 2017/18, along with reaching the Champions League final with Los Rojiblancos in 2015/16, while at Chelsea he lifted the FA Cup and the Champions League in 2011/12, as well as the Europa League in 2012/13.

Internationally, however, Torres will never be forgotten by the Spanish public. His deft chip over Jens Lehmann in the 2008 European Championship final was the start of Spain’s dominance, with La Roja securing their first trophy since 1964. He also scored in the 2012 European Championship final win against Italy, whilst also helping Spain lift the World Cup in 2010. In 110 games for La Roja, Torres scored 38 goals.

David Villa

The ex-Barcelona star who won the Golden Boot at the 2008 Euros and finished joint on goals with the Golden Shoe winner from the 2010 World Cup.

Villa’s club achievements include winning La Liga twice, the Champions League, the Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

After spending a season at Atletico Madrid, he left Spain for America, as he became the first player for MLS expansion side New York City FC.

He scored three goals at the 2006 World Cup, was the top scorer at Euro 2008 and earned the Silver Boot at the 2010 World Cup.

His displays for Spain and Valencia saw him named in the FIFA FIFPro World11 for 2010. He became the first Spanish player to ever reach 50 international goals and, after a brief comeback in 2017,he retired from the national team with 59 goals in 98 matches, making him Spain’s all-time top goal scorer as well as the country’s top scorer in the World Cup, with nine goals.

Julio Baptista

The former Brazil international started out at Sao Paulo before heading to Spain, where he played for Sevilla – scoring 20 goals in the 2003-04 LaLiga season – and Real Madrid. Baptista helped Arsenal win the League Cup during a loan stint in 2006-07, including an astonishing four-goal haul against Liverpool in a 6-3 quarter-final win at Anfield.

There were also spells with Roma and Malaga, as well as a return to his homeland with Cruzeiro in 2013, prior to joining Orlando City in MLS.

Bastian Schweinsteiger

The Former Bayer Munich Player who spent 17 seasons at Bayern Munich, playing in exactly Bundesliga 500 matches across all competitions and scoring 68 goals.

His honours at the club include eight titles, seven DFB-Pokal titles, a UEFA Champions League title, a FIFA Club World Cup title and a UEFA Super Cup title.

He joined Manchester United in 2015, playing sparingly for 18 months before moving to Chicago Fire.

He played for the German national team from 2004 to 2016. He is Germany’s fourth most-capped player of all time, having earned 121 caps and scored 24 goals, in a 12-year international career starting in 2004. He was selected in their squads for four European Championships and three World Cups, including their victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Following Philipp Lahm’s international retirement on 2 September 2014, Schweinsteiger was named captain of the national team. He played his last match for Germany against Finland on 31 August 2016, after which he retired from international football.

Arjen Robben

The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich winger from football aged 35 following a trophy-laden career at club level and having earned 96 caps for his country, which included playing in a World Cup final.

Robben won 12 league titles – eight with Bayern, two at Chelsea and one each at PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid – and was part of the Netherlands team that lost to Spain in the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg.

Patrice Evra

Evra, 38, has called time on a 20-year career during which he played for Nice, Monaco, Man Utd, Juventus, Marseille, West Ham and the France national side.

The left-back spent eight seasons at Old Trafford, winning five Premier League titles, the Champions League and three League Cups.

Evra also won two Serie A titles at Juventus and the French League Cup at Monaco. He won 81 international caps for France between 2004 and 2016, and was in their squad for two World Cup and three European Championship tournaments.

Xavi

A career in which he won it all – including the Qatar lottery – has been drawn to a close. A former Spain and Barcelona Midfielder, He won World Soccer Player of the Year (2010), Ballon d’Or – third place (2009, 2010, 2011), Spanish Sportsman of the Year (2009), World Cup champion (2010) Olympic silver medal (2000). Also Ranked has one of Barcelona all-time best player.

Robin van Persie

Van Persie retiring at the age of 35 is a shocking reminder of our own mortality, but it’s a testament to the man himself that he has lasted so long after so many injury problems during his early years at Arsenal.

When he was fit and firing, few strikers in the Premier League could match the Dutchman, especially during his final season in north London and debut campaign at Manchester United, when he struck 67 goals in all competitions.

Petr Cech

The former Czech Republic, Chelsea and Arsenal goalkeeper who won the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, FA CUP, English Premier League and other major trophies in the EPL before retiring from Soccer and proceeded to Playing Ice Hockey in his country.

By all accounts he’s a great goalkeeper; Cech has set the benchmark for all Premier League stoppers to aspire to with a record 202 clean sheets in 443 appearances in the competition.

Yet the 36-year-old still isn’t done, with the small matter of the Europa League final against his former club Chelsea still to come before the end of the season.

Andrea Barzagli

Barzagli perhaps attracted fewer plaudits than team-mates and defensive partners Georgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, but having joined Juventus for just €600,000, the centre-back has proved an immense servant to the Italian giants.

Not only did Barzagli help inspire Wolfsburg to their one and only title, the 38-year-old will retire having also won eight Serie A crowns, four Italian Cups and the World Cup.

It’s little wonder Juve chairman Andrea Agnelli dubbed him “the best signing we ever made”.

Ashley Cole

The former England defender won 13 major titles during his 20-year career, including the 2012 Champions League with Chelsea, three Premier League titles and seven FA Cup triumphs.

38-year-old Cole, who won 107 caps for England, announced his retirement on Sky Sports, where he was appearing as a pundit for Sunday afternoon’s Premier League games.

Cole made more than 500 club appearances in a career that took in Arsenal, Crystal Palace (on loan), Chelsea, Roma, LA Galaxy and Derby County.

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rickhorrow · 5 years

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10 To Watch : Mayor’s Edition 102119

RICK HORROW’S TOP 10 SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 21 : MAYOR’S EDITION

with Jacob Aere

TV broadcasters and streamers invested $38 billion in sports rights in 2018, nearly double the $20 billion spent in 2012. Globally, TV broadcasters, and to a lesser degree, online streamers, fork out 26% of their total content spend on sports rights, according to a report published last Wednesday by Ampere Analysis and carried by the Hollywood Reporter. The market for sports rights has nearly doubled in the last six years, from $20 billion in 2012 to $38 billion last year. The U.S. remains the largest single market for sports rights, with a $19 billion annual spend, a figure likely to jump as new rights cycles kick in for the NFL, MLB, and the NBA. Ampere forecasts the top U.S. leagues generating $4 billion more per year in rights revenues by the end of the next six years. And in Europe, broadcasters and online players in Europe's big five markets – the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Spain – shelled out $11 billion for sports rights in 2018, double the amount from six years ago. European broadcasters and pay TV operators in the big five spend a third of their content budget, on average, on sports, compared to 26% in the U.S.

espnW and the U.S. Department of State are hosting the eighth year of the Global Sports Mentoring Program October 11-November 19. The program will see 16 emerging female leaders from around the world begin a month-long mentorship in the United States alongside top American female executives from some of the most influential organizations in sports and business. Including ESPN, executive mentors in the 2019 program represent: the Big East Conference; Creative Artists Agency (CAA); Google; LISC; Minnesota Lynx/ Timberwolves; the NCAA; New Balance; the NHL; Saatchi & Saatchi, Spurs Sports & Entertainment; the University of Connecticut; and the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA). The initiative joins such other events as this week’s espnW Women + Sports Summit in Newport Beach, CA and the recently-completed LPGA Indy Women in Tech Driven by Group1001 tournament and week-long symposium that promote women’s leadership, education, and advancement both in and out of sport.

MLS will officially award Sacramento an expansion franchise this week. According to the Sacramento Bee, MLS will hold a press conference and fan event in California’s capital city on Monday to announce that the United Soccer League’s Sacramento Republic FC will make the step up to become MLS’ 29th team. Sacramento has been attempting to secure an MLS expansion team since 2015, but its chances were improved at the beginning of this year when Ron Burkle, billionaire part-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, joined the Republic as lead investor. The Republic then received city council backing in April for a new $252 million, 20,000-seat stadium. Later that month, the Republic emerged as a front runner in the race to join MLS when the league announced it had been authorized to advance talks with the ownership groups of Sacramento and St Louis, which was officially awarded its own expansion team in August. If Sacramento is confirmed, it will pay a $200 million expansion fee to become the fourth MLS team in California. Confirmation would also mean that MLS has only one spot left to fill if it is to stick to its expansion target of 30 teams.

Tiger Woods has been the subject of countless articles, books, and TV segments, but for the first time, he will tell his story in his own words. Last Tuesday, Harper Collins announced Woods’ BACK, a memoir chronicling the golfer’s life from growing up a celebrated golfing prodigy to shattering racial barriers and rising to fame, then facing continuing injuries and personal scandal, to mounting a comeback at 43 years old culminating with the 2019 Masters. “I’ve been in the spotlight for a long time, and because of that, there have been books and articles and TV shows about me, most filled with errors, speculative and wrong,” Woods said in the statement. “This book is my definitive story.” No publication date has been announced; the release stated that BACK will be “the first and only account directly from Woods, with the full cooperation of his friends, family, and inner circle.” For the moment, however, Woods is focused on “The Challenge: Japan Skins,” a big money made-for-TV match with Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, and Hideki Matsuyama taking place at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan.

Formula 1 eyes Miami to host its first-ever Grand Prix after reaching an agreement in principle to host a race at Hard Rock Stadium beginning in 2021. The proposed Formula One Miami Grand Prix would see F1 cars navigating a custom-built track around the stadium. Formula One had initially set its sights on a downtown track location, only to scrap the proposal in favor of Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins, after local opposition. Concerns remain among residents over noise, traffic and pollution, though organizers insist this new location would reduce disruption compared to a downtown race. According to the Miami Herald, Dolphins and stadium owner Steve Ross will cover all race costs, including an expected $40 million custom track. It takes Formula One a step closer to holding a second U.S. race, a long-held ambition for the global motor racing series’ owners, Liberty Media. Since 2012, the sole F1 stop in the U.S. has been the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. A Miami F1 race would have an estimated annual impact of more than $400 million and 35,000 room nights.

ATP Media, the in-house rights agency for the global men’s tennis tour, saw revenues rise by 6.7% to $120.96 million in 2018. The UK-based production hub, which is also responsible for ATP Tour content creation, has registered gross profits of $13.57 million. The spike represents a 9.6% growth compared to the end of 2017. Broadcast rights sales, where ATP Media works alongside IMG, remain the dominant source of income. ATP Media also said it had benefitted from “favorable movements” on the euro and British pound exchange rates during last year. Broken up geographically, the UK operation generated $11.59 million in revenues at the end of 2018, while the rest of Europe raked in $31.91 million behind $77.45 million generated by ATP Media in other international territories. Among several of the media group’s high-profile broadcast deals, 2019 has already seen ATP Media secure an improved five-year agreement with Amazon Prime Video in the UK, which runs through the 2023 ATP season. In addition, deals were confirmed with Discovery-owned Eurosport in France and Sky Deutschland in Germany.

Finally, before a big game, it’s important for fans to get a Goodyear night’s sleep. The Goodyear Blimp has provided aerial coverage of college football games since 1955, and later this season will become the first non-player or coach to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Now, Forbes reports, fans will have the chance to stay in the iconic dirigible prior to the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game October 26. One-night stays can be booked through Airbnb for October 22, 23, and 24 in the blimp hangar in Mogadore, Ohio. Each night is priced at $150 (plus taxes and fees) to celebrate college football’s 150th anniversary. Guests "will have exclusive access to the Goodyear hangar, which is the size of 2.6 football fields, and a football lounge will be provided where guests can relax and watch some of the all-time best rivalry games in college football history.” Goodyear and Airbnb will also collectively donate $5,000 to the Cotton Bowl Foundation, which supports college football-related causes. While the blimp will remain on the ground, this takes “Air”bnb to a whole new level.

FOX Bet becomes an MLB authorized gaming operator just days before the World Series. According to Sports Handle, FOX Bet announced a multi-year partnership with Major League Baseball under which the online and mobile betting platform will become an Authorized Gaming Operator of MLB. The announcement came exactly a week before the scheduled first pitch of Game 1 of the 2019 World Series on October 22. FOX Sports, an MLB broadcast partner, has televised the World Series in every season since 2000. FOX Bet is the fourth sports betting entity to join MLB’s Authorized Gaming Operator program since the Supreme Court’s historic PASPA decision in May 2018, joining MGM Resorts International, DraftKings, and FanDuel as MLB official data licensees under the program. The partnership is the latest in a string of deals for the network’s nascent sports betting division. FOX is looking to go all in on sports betting – this partnership marks the third deal that FOX Bet has inked with a major U.S. pro sports league, including the NBA and a deal with the NFL through its Super 6 contest.

Ex-NFL star Warrick Dunn helps deliver 173rd home to single parent for charity. According to FOX Business, the former NFL running back helped surprise a single Florida mother with a new home Wednesday through his charity along with Habitat for Humanity and health care company Cigna. Warrick Dunn Charities, which is run by the former Pro Bowler, presented LaToya Reedy with a new home in St. Petersburg. It was the 173rd home the charity has given thanks to its “Home for the Holidays” campaign, which helps single parents achieve home ownership. Reedy told local media she had been working hard as a nursing assistant to provide a stable lifestyle for her 18-year-old son, but high rent prices and living paycheck to paycheck was getting difficult. Before Dunn became a pro football player, he was living with a single mother who worked very hard to provide for him and five other children, but his mother was killed before his 18th birthday and he helped raise his siblings while playing college football. Dunn sees his charity as a form of therapy to deal with his own traumas, taking comfort that he is helping others avoid similar housing and economic struggles.

Michael Jordan donates a huge sum to two Novant Health clinics in Charlotte, North Carolina. During a recent speech, Jordan teared up as he spoke about his $7.2 million donation to two Novant Health clinics in his area. According to the Charlotte Observer, The Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinic and a second facility expected to open soon nearby will serve at least 35,000 children and adults over the next five years. The clinics provide both primary health care services as well as access to social workers, behavioral health experts, oral health practitioners, and physical therapy. Jordan’s financial gift to Novant Health is the latest in his philanthropic giving in Charlotte and his home state of North Carolina. Jordan has significantly ramped up his charitable giving since he became the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets in 2010. The Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic opened just over three weeks ago, and has already cared for more than 300 people. It is particularly important for Charlotte families to get the health care they deserve, as the city ranks last among major U.S. cities in enabling people to lift themselves out of poverty.

#10 #10towatch

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gadgetsrevv · 5 years

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Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd £75m swap deal, Maddison to Liverpool, Neymar to Barcelona | Football | Sport

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip

Friday, September 13

Joe Willock has signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal

Manchester United are monitoring Leicester playmaker James Maddison

Liverpool and Manchester City are also interested in the 22-year-old

Wilfried Zaha is set to leave his agent after failing to seal a move

Declan Rice to Man Utd snub

Declan Rice has been advised to join one of three Premier League teams if he decides to leave West Ham, but Manchester United aren’t one of them.

Many believe Rice will have to part company with West Ham and join one of the Premier League’s big sides in order to challenge for major honours.

Former Leeds defender Danny Mills agrees with that notion but doesn’t count United as part of that group.

“People at West Ham know that there’s interest from other clubs over the course of the summer, but he’s stayed where he is for now,” Mills told Football Insider.

“He’s a very, very good player with a very bright future. (Can he be a Premier League winner?) If he moves club. Let’s be honest, he’s not going to win the Premier League at West Ham any time soon.

“If he wants to go and win something, he’s got to move club. Whether that be abroad or the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool – they’re the ones obviously at the moment – maybe a Chelsea comes strong at some point. Just have to wait and see.”

Transfer news LIVE: Declan Rice could join Man Utd (Image: GETTY)

David de Gea decision?

David de Gea should stay at Manchester United and relinquish a chance of joining up with Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus on a free transfer, claims former West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.

“If I were advising David de Gea, right now, I would tell him to stay at Manchester United,” Hislop said.

“He knows the city, he knows the club. As far as I can tell, on a personal level, he seems to be settled.

“You know exactly what he can be on a professional level.

“You move to Juventus and I think they are far more uncertainties that you’re not quite sure about right now and you’re not quite sure how you navigate those.

“So given what’s on offer, nothing to be sniffed at, that’s what I’d tell him to do.”

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip (Image: GETTY)

Kai Havertz decision

Bayer Leverkusen star Kai Havertz is choosing between three European heavyweights.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were reportedly interested in the 20-year-old prodigy – but German publication SportBILD makes no mention of the Premier League club.

The report claims Havertz, who could repeatedly cost upwards of £91million, is deciding between Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Borussia Dortmund are also interested – but it’s claimed they are well behind the trio.

Transfer news LIVE: De Gea could quit Man Utd (Image: GETTY)

Declan Rice to Man Utd

West Ham legend Tony Cottee is confident that Manchester United and Manchester City want to sign Declan Rice.

“I am sure Manchester United would want him. I am sure Manchester City would want him in that holding role, though they have just bought Rodri,” Cottee told talkSPORT.

“Of course, let’s not forget, he did grow up as a Chelsea fan. Maybe once their embargo is lifted, they’ll be looking as well.”

Cottee’s comments are in response to claims Manchester United are preparing a £90million bid for the West Ham talent.

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip (Image: GETTY)

New target acquired

Manchester United are reportedly chasing Reading goalkeeper Coniah Boyce-Clarke and could make a move in January.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen to make plans for the January transfer window after making three signings during the summer.

And 16-year-old goalkeeper Boyce-Clarke is believed to be on Solskjaer’s radar after scouts were sent to watch him this week.

The Mirror claim that United representatives saw Boyce-Clarke be the hero for England’s under-17s in a penalty shoot-out in the Syrenka Cup Final with Poland.

It’s claimed that the Red Devils are not put off by the fact that Boyce-Clarke recently agreed a new contract with Reading.

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip (Image: GETTY)

N’Golo Kante on radar

Chelsea star N’Golo Kante is wanted by Real Madrid duo Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard, according to reports.

The France international is being linked with a move to the Bernabeu next summer with reports in Spain going as far to say the two clubs have come to an agreement.

Real Madrid have Casemiro as their holding midfielder but Zinedine Zidane has long been a Kante admirer and would love to welcome his compatriot to the Bernabeu.

And The Athletic say Courtois and Hazard have privately remarked the Chelsea star is exactly what Los Blancos need.

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip (Image: GETTY)

Lewandowski bids

Real Madrid have been interested in Robert Lewandowski “for several years” but have been unsuccessful in their efforts to bring him to the Bernabeu.

That’s according to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who confirmed his sides attempts to sign the Poland international.

“There are players who don’t get sold,” Perez told Marca.

“We went for Lewandowski for several years and nothing happened because he has no clause and they won’t sell him. There’s no way”.

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip (Image: GETTY)

Paul Pogba swap deal

Manchester United are prepared to finally sell Paul Pogba to Real Madrid.

According to Spanish media outlet Diario Madridista, United will do business BUT only providing Toni Kroos plus cash is sent in return.

Zinedine Zidane’s side were trying to engineer a move for the French international but United’s £150million valuation prevent a summer transfer.

“Zidane has an obsession, which is still Pogba,” said Spanish journalist Eduardo Inda. “The French coach is a person of fixed ideas and insists on Paul.

“They will try in January and there have already been the first contacts with United. In the conversations that still exist between emissaries from Madrid and United, a name has been put – Toni Kroos.

“United tried to sign Kroos this summer and it is the one that United would ask for as a condition. For him they offered this summer £75m and that caused him to sign a new contract with Real.”

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip (Image: GETTY)

Solskjaer wants four

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to sign four players to turn his team around, reports say.

The Red Devils had a fruitful summer transfer window, securing the signatures of Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire.

But Solskjaer believes Manchester United need more and the Evening Standard say Woodward has decided the Red Devils manager will be given time to turn his side around.

It is claimed that United have interest in James Maddison, Jadon Sancho, Declan Rice and Sean Longstaff.

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip (Image: GETTY)

Messi on Neymar

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has admitted he wanted the club to re-sign Neymar from PSG during the transfer window.

The duo spent four years together between 2013 and 2017 before the Brazil international jumped ship to the Parc des Princes in a world-record £200million deal.

And Messi has now opened up on the saga to Catalonian newspaper Sport, admitting he wanted Neymar to return.

“I wish he had come for what it would imply, not only at the sports level, but also at the club level for what it means at the club, sponsor, image, growth level,” he said. “The club would have taken a leap too. But hey, it didn’t happen.”

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip (Image: GETTY)

Wanted: Fabian Ruiz

Liverpool have joined the ever-growing list of suitors interested in Napoli midfielder Fabian Ruiz.

Barcelona and La Liga rivals Real Madrid were recently credited with interest in the Spain international.

Ruiz, 23, won the Player of the Tournament at the 2019 Under-21 European Championships and has been a mainstay for Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli – making 42 appearances over the last two campaigns

Now, Calciomercato claim Jurgen Klopp wants the £54million-rated midfielder at Anfield.

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip (Image: GETTY)

Done Deal – Joe Willock signs

Joe Willock has signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal.

The England Under-21 international, 20, has started Arsenal’s first three Premier League fixtures of the campaign.

And will now extend his Emirates stay until June 2023.

“Joe has progressed a lot in the last year,” Unai Emery said. “He is technically strong and has shown the confidence to take responsibility and play his game whatever the occasion or opposition.

“I’m looking forward to working with to help him develop further and fulfil his potential.”

Transfer news LIVE | Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the latest rumours and gossip (Image: GETTY)

Wanted: James Maddison

Manchester United are monitoring Leicester playmaker James Maddison.

That’s according to the Manchester Evening News, who claim Leicester are likely to demand a similar price to that of Harry Maguire – who signed for £80million in August.

The report claims Ed Woodward and Co are hopeful that Maddison’s popular England colleagues Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard can persuade the 22-year-old to join next summer.

Maddison is also reportedly being targeted by Liverpool and Premier League champions Manchester City.

Wilfried Zaha sacks agent

Wilfried Zaha is set to leave his agent after failing to seal a move away from Crystal Palace in the summer.

The forward is contracted with Unique Sports Management (USM), who brokered some of the biggest deals of the summer, including Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s £50million move from Selhurst Park to Manchester United.

Company director Will Salthouse was informed of Zaha’s wish to end the contract in writing, according to The Times.

The report claims the FA, who deal with contracts between players and agents, has been notified of a “dispute” between Zaha and his representatives.

Palace wanted around £80million for Zaha and received offers from Arsenal and Everton, which they rejected.

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#Gossip Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd £75m swap deal #Maddison to Liverpool #Neymar to Barcelona | Foot

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junker-town · 5 years

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How USA men’s basketball can still win gold in the 2020 Olympics

James Harden and Anthony Davis are past Team USA stars that need to be on the 2020 Olympic team. | Getty Images/SB Nation illustration

Getting James Harden to play is Step 1.

Sure, Team USA men’s basketball lost in a tournament game using NBA players for the first time since 2006 on Wednesday. Sure, Team USA will not win a medal — or even finish in the top six — at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, let alone win the tournament. Sure, 12 NBA players, plus a vaunted NBA and NCAA coaching staff, gave up their summer for an experience that will largely be remembered by the viewing public as a failure.

But it’s not all bad news for Team USA. The Americans got further in the tournament than all but one other Western Hemisphere team, which means that the United States has secured a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball tournament. Team USA will be back next summer.

The question now becomes: in what form will Team USA return?

We know Gregg Popovich and assistant coaches Steve Kerr, Lloyd Pierce, and Jay Wright will be back. We presume most of the players available this summer will be interested in coming back. We presume, based on past experience, that some of the players who declined participation this summer will be more interested in Olympic service.

But how do you build a roster that can win the tournament?

I have some ideas.

Step 1: Get James Harden

Harden was the would-be Team USA star who declined to participate this summer that could have singlehandedly changed the squad’s fate. He just checks so many boxes that Team USA left unmarked. Donovan Mitchell was really good in the United States’ loss to France, but even when hitting shots, he doesn’t have anywhere near the gravity that Harden does. Kemba Walker doesn’t have that gravity either. Against physical opponents free to zone up, you need an unstable isotope shredding the system. That’s Harden.

Of course, saying that Team USA can win the Olympic tournament by adding one of the five best players in the world to the roster is an obvious claim. But it needs to be said. Team USA didn’t have a top-10 player in the world on this roster. It probably needs one to ensure victory at the world stage. Harden would be an instant best fit, and is the most gettable star of the best players (including Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant among the Americans).

Step 2: Get the best center you can

Team USA took three centers to the World Cup: Myles Turner, Brook Lopez, and Mason Plumlee. Lopez and Plumlee didn’t play much. Turner had a mixed tournament. Popovich relied on lots of smallball, but none of it worked against Rudy Gobert and France.

There are other great international centers who would have caused problems in an elimination game, too, such as Serbia’s Nikola Jokic and Spain’s Marc Gasol. One of the more underrated players of Team USA’s last cycle was DeMarcus Cousins, who played a key role in keeping pressure on opposing centers and at least providing size on defense.

Anthony Davis would be a huge win for Team USA next summer, as he would be the de facto center in all line-ups. Otherwise, this is the toughest spot to fill. So many of the best NBA centers are international (including Karl-Anthony Towns, who would play for the Dominican Republic), and the position has been de-emphasized in the NBA.

If there’s a breakout American center in the NBA this season, USA Basketball needs to pounce in case Davis declines.

Step 3: Don’t get too cute

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony suggested that Team USA should devote two or three roster spots to high-level Americans who play professionally in Europe to help the squad adjust to the style played on the continent. Cory Higgins was mentioned as a candidate under this rationale.

This idea is flatly absurd.

Team USA’s core issue is not that they have too much talent. Devoting precious roster space to less talented players isn’t going to solve the problem of Rudy Gobert, or an opponent who gets hot from three. Suggesting that Team USA could have beat France if only Brook Lopez and Derrick White were replaced by Higgins and Will Clyburn is an insult to the very talented players of the French national team, the best of which thrive in the NBA, not Euroleague.

However, a Dream Team of American-born Euroleague players would be an excellent replacement for the USA Select team that works out with and scrimmages against Team USA during the pre-Olympic training period. Pay a few of those players whatever it takes to spend two weeks playing European-style basketball against Team USA in Las Vegas before every tournament. Just don’t then take them to the tournament instead of high-end NBA talent.

This “don’t get too cute” rule also applies to selecting certain NBA players. I suppose we’ll never really know if De’Aaron Fox legitimately pulled out or if he was given an opportunity to exit in lieu of being cut. If it’s the latter, that’s an enormous mistake on the part of Jerry Colangelo and Popovich to take a third center or White over Fox, who could have been a difference-maker against France and in the close call against Turkey. But given that we don’t really know what happened there, it’s impossible to hold it against Team USA.

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lostsummerdayz · 5 years

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New York Gran Turismo World Tour Championship concludes amidst controversy

Contention for ultimate victory ran red hot as Mercedes Benz wins the Manufacturers Cup and Igor Fraga cinches the Nations Cup.

It was previously mentioned that tires were not going to be the only thing heating up this past weekend. No one expected a raging inferno however as the climactic finish to a nail-biter of a championship caused sparks to fly. On and off the virtual track.

Day 1 of the New York Gran Turismo World Tour, held in the Playstation Theater, hosted the Manufacturer Series. In this championship, drivers team up as they each represent a specific car manufacturer. Manufacturer’s like Hyundai, BMW, Toyota, Lexus, and Porsche were all represented. It was Subaru who would be the team to lead the pack as they qualified first for pole position.

The first race of the day was held at the Infield Circuit of the Blue Moon Bay Speedway. With the Infield Circuit known for its speedy yet tricky corners, the margin for error was slim. In this race and all of the other races during the Manufacturer’s Cup, all of the drivers were close enough to the point where the distance between the first and last place position was only a few meters.

As quickly as Subaru set the pace with its qualifying laps, Subaru was sent down to the depths of the grid as the battle for first place concluded with Toyota on top, Porsche in second, and BMW in third respectively.

The second race was held at Maggiore, another fictional course made for Gran Turismo Sport. A more technical course, battles among the drivers were commonplace across the grid. At the end of the scuffle, Team Aston Martin won the second race with Mercedes Benz in second. Once again, BMW hung by a thread in third.

Shifting the scene from fictional to real world circuits, the semi-final was held at the Fuji International Speedway. A notoriously high speed circuit, cars designed for top speed showed off their power to great lengths. The two manufacturers that stood out the most were Aston Martin and Mercedes Benz. While they scuffled in previous races, it was this race that marked the beginning of the rivalry between the two racing teams. Mercedes and Aston Martin dueled to the very end as Aston Martin was sent to third position, with Lexus creeping up into second. Mercedes proved to be the victor this time around.

The final and arguably most crucial race of the series was held in Brazil's own Interlagos Circuit. With the iconic “Senna S” downhill series of corners, Interlagos is a short yet twisty circuit with consistent elevation changes. In this race, each team had to cycle through all three of their drivers via all three tire compounds. Placements matter more in this race than any other race prior as positions were granted double points. Thus, podium finishes can almost be cinched with a single race.

The requirement of tire compounds layered in a bit of strategy for the drivers. Tires can come in soft, medium, and hard. Ideally the softer the tires, the quicker they are prone to heating up. The faster the tires heat up, the more they grip to the road, which allows the driver to take turns quicker as their car is glued to the road. However, they are also prone to wearing out at a faster rate, which will cause the car to have an opposite effect. Hard tires are the inverse of this. They take a while to heat up which equates to less starting grip. The longer the race continues, however, the longer they are able to sustain the heat.

In short, soft tires provide excellent starting grip at the cost of a faster loss of grip overtime. Hard tires are the slowest to burn, but provide long lasting grip the more they are used. Medium tires are in between. There is no right or wrong way to decide which tire compound is the best to start and end with. It all depends on the driver, what they are comfortable with, and what combination the other drivers will potentially use.

Due to the nature of the final race, intense battles transpired across the grid. Once again, Mercedes and Aston Martin engaged in battle as a lurking BMW approached. In the middle of the grid, Toyota, Hyundai, and Lexus were among the many manufacturers vying for those last chance positions. Mercedes and Aston Martin, even in the midst of the chaos behind them, fought to the death. When Mercedes trailed behind Aston Martin, Aston Martin drove as defensively as possible to ensure Mercedes was at a disadvantage. The same could be said when Mercedes fought back. Through usage of blocking and slipstreaming, the fate of the cup rest in the final laps of the final race.

Ultimately, Team Mercedes was triumphant in the war as they would go on to win the final race and the Manufacturers Cup in New York. Aston Martin would take a close second. Lexus cinched third place by the skin of their teeth despite tying for points with BMW as they placed higher in the third race in comparison.

While the first day placed an emphasis on teamwork, the second day was every driver for themselves as the Nations Cup went underway. In the span of twenty-four hours, former teammates turn into fierce rivals. The drivers not only raced for glory, but also for a chance to secure a guaranteed spot at the Gran Turismo World Tour finals in Monaco in November.

Gran Turismo fans lining up to play on GT Sport setups.

If every position mattered in the team Manufacturers Tournament, then every position in the Nations Cup was a life or death scenario. With the top 24 drivers in the Nations Cup, each of the two starting races is split between two twelve-person grids. The top four racers in each grid will move on to the Grand Final. Those who placed 11th and 12th are eliminated by default. Those who placed 5th to 10th in both races will battle it out in a last chance repechage race. Whoever places 1st to 4th in that race will round out the twelve man grid for the Final race in the tournament.

The first race of the second day kicked off in the Big Willow circuit of the Willow Springs International Speedway in California. Mastery of the elevation changes was crucial to the success of the drivers, especially in the high speed EF7 cars. German driver Mikal Hizal immediately made a statement in the lead of the pack, with Australia's Latkovski, Japan’s Miyazono, and Spain’s Lopez rounding out the top four.

Round 2 slowed things down a tad bit as we go to the other side of the world in Japan’s Autopolis International Racing Course. With the slower “Group B classification” cars and a technical circuit, dogfights were one in many. Igor Fraga, last year’s World Tour Finals winner, maintained an early lead as the fight for the remaining qualifying positions grew intense until the last lap. Ultimately, Chile’s Rubilar, France’s Derroucihe, and Japan’s Kokubun would join Brazil’s Fraga in the final race.

With the top eight racers decided and seeded, the remaining drivers were left in a do-or-die all-or-nothing repechage race. Returning to the Blue Moon Bay Speedway, the course configuration was on the oval circuit. With the cars all Super Formula tier Toyotas, this high speed course paired with high speed cars plus twelve hungry drivers served as a recipe for an all-out brawl.

As the lead constantly shifted with the distance between the first and last position almost nonexistent, it was impossible to determine who would be a clear winner. At one point, one driver was in the lead for half a lap only to drop down close to last place. In the end, it would be Rodriguez, Brooks, Wong, and the sole American-crowd-favorite Solis to round out the final 12.

The Final was a commemorative race as it was the first time in Gran Turismo Sport’s lifespan that the Spa Circuit was introduced. The iconic Spa Circuit is a fan favorite Belgium race track for motorsports fans. While it has only been a part of Gran Turismo since 5 as downloadable content, fans of Gran Turismo waited with bated breath for its inclusion in Sport. After all, what’s a game based around the racing eSport without having such a circuit that is world renown? A lot of it stemmed from licensing, yet with teasing from Gran Turismo’s official twitter a few days before the World Tour event, news was imminent. What better way to show off such a course than with twelve of the best drivers in a winner take all scenario?

Much like the final race in the Manufacturers Cup, each driver must go through a tire compound once during the 25 laps of Spa. With each driver behind the wheel of the conceptualized Red Bull X2019 Competition car, adorned with the livery of their nation’s flag, the final race went underway. Careful maneuverability of a high class car in one of the most notoriously technical circuits in the world was paramount in one’s success, and Fraga pulled ahead of the pack for most of the race.

Perhaps one of the biggest underdogs of the race was Miyazono, who started the race in hard compound tires. Immediately after the first lap, he swapped to medium compound tires. This was a peculiar strategy but it was understood. Going back to how hard tires are “slower” than soft and medium tires, his strategy was to fulfil the requirement of running hard tires once. After he completed a lap, he switched to medium compound for the majority of the race.

With this strategy, suddenly he was in contention to overtake Fraga who, up until the midsection of the race, had no competition. After Miyazono switched to soft tires, thus fulfilling his last required pit stop, he went from almost dead last to leading the charge. This persisted for several laps tragedy struck. It was revealed through the radios that Miyazono was running low on fuel which would mean he would have to make an emergency pit. This, of course, took him not only out of first place but also out of contention, thus costing him the race banking on a bold strategy.

For the remainder of the race, Hizal, who was the winner of the first race, and Fraga, the victor of the second, dueled for first place. The trophy and the coveted placement for the Monaco spot was within anyone’s reach.

That was, until a high controversial play by Fraga cemented his victory.

With less than ten laps remaining and the looming threat of Hizal taking away Fraga’s lead, especially with Hizal on the better tire compound, Fraga utilized quick yet dirty thinking to maintain his lead. Knowing that Hizal was a few corners away from taking the lead, Fraga deliberately blocks Hizal at one of the pivotal corners of the map. This forced Hizal to take a rather awkward line, yet it was enough to give him the momentary lead.

A play by play of the controversial move can be seen here.

However, giving Hizal the lead was planned as due to Fraga’s brake check, Hizal emerged from the corner in a less than stellar angle at a sub-optimal speed. This was enough for Fraga to use Hizal’s slipstream to slingshot past Hizal on the lead straightaway.

What made this tactic controversial, as expressed by the commentators, was the sudden braking that threw his competitor off guard. Luckily Hizal was able to adjust, however, it fell right into Fraga’s hands. Hizal would be out of contention after this as he was forced to preserve his fuel due to the harsh braking point he was forced into.

Needless to say, while Fraga was victorious, Hizal was not happy. After an official ruling, Fraga was penalized five seconds for said dirty play. It wouldn’t matter as Fraga would still win the Cup as the penalty was more a “warning” or a “slap on the wrist.”

For more information on the logistics behind the controversial play, the result, and Hizal’s unleaded anger through it all, the post-race interview goes into more detail on what went through each driver’s head as it happened. Perhaps a blessing in disguise, third place winner Lopez, who sat in between both Hizal and Fraga to separate them, provided his light hearted thoughts in the midst of a volcanic eruption.

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Despite the sour finish, or rather because of the finish, the Gran Turismo World Tour weekend in New York exhibited the racing sport in all of its glory. The glory of triumph, the glory of well thought out strategies, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. Sometimes the most entertaining races stem from rivalries on the track, whether it be a virtual one or a real one. When the stakes are high and a well played match can crumble down in the blink of an eye, these are the stories that are best written themselves.

Written by Nay Holland

#Gran Turismo Sport #Gran Turismo #gaming journalism #writing #video game #esports

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ramajmedia · 5 years

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Harry Potter: 5 Best Wizarding Schools (& 5 Worst) | ScreenRant

While the Harry Potter books and movies are mostly set at Hogwarts in Great Britain, it isn’t the only Wizarding School. For instance, the first mention of other Wizarding Schools came with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where Harry finds himself participating in the Triwizard Tournament alongside representatives from France’s Beauxbatons Academy and Eastern Europe’s Durmstrang Institute.

RELATED: HARRY POTTER: 10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT WIZARDING SCHOOLS (THAT AREN'T HOGWARTS)

Then in the Fantastic Beasts films, America was revealed to have its own Wizarding School called Ilvermorny. Additionally, J. K. Rowling announced that there are 11 Wizarding Schools in the entire world. Of course, not all of them are the best.

10 Best - Mahoutokoro School of Magic

Despite having the “Smallest student body of the eleven great wizarding schools” in the Harry Potter world as Pottermore states, Japan’s Mahoutokoro School does make up for it by having some really amazing features that are up there with the best. For instance, students get to fly on the backs of giant birds (specifically Storm Petrels) to the school itself which resides on a volcanic island as well as receive enchanted robes that change size and color overtime.

Additionally, the school’s Quidditch players are said to be incredibly good which carries over into the national team known as the Toyohashi Tengu. The main reason for this is the intense training that involves flying over stormy seas.

9 Worst - Bothwell School of Witchcraft

Though this school is technically not part of the Harry Potter world, it does bear mentioning among the worst due to how much it derives from Harry Potter. Located at the real-life Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England, Bothwell is an annual live-action roleplaying experience where one can go to a fictional magic school as a student and attend magic-related classes while solving mysteries on the side.

RELATED: HARRY POTTER: 10 FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE DURMSTRANG INSTITUTE SCHOOL

Sound familiar? While it’s not officially related to Harry Potter nor uses actual names and lore from the franchise, the similarities pile on as one not only receives a letter once accepted by the school but also students get sorted into one of four Houses represented by different colors and animals. Students even receive robes and neckties with the latter relating to the colors of their designated House.

8 Best - Uagadou School of Magic

Pronounced ‘Wag-a-doo,’ this Wizarding School located in Uganda within the African continent is considered to be “The largest of all wizarding schools” in the Harry Potter world according to Pottermore making it arguably one of the best. Instead of getting a letter via owl, future Uagadou students receive inscribed stones from Dream Messengers (though what they look like is unknown) sent by the Headmaster/Headmistress which sounds incredibly convenient.

Then while Uagadou students do use wands, Pottermore claims most spells are cast using hand gestures or finger pointing which makes getting out of an International Statute of Secrecy violation easier (which is the law that keeps the presence of the Wizarding World hidden from Muggles). Among the subjects that are specialized in Uagadou include useful ones like Self-Transfiguration Alchemy and Astronomy.

7 Worst - Castelobruxo

Now this Wizarding School in the Harry Potter world isn’t bad for the things it offers, including exchange programs for European students as well as specialization in subjects like Magizoology and Herbology, but it’s arguably among the worst in terms of its environment. Appearing as an ancient ruin to Muggles, Castelobruxo (which is pronounced as ‘Cass - tell - o - broo - shoo’) resides within a Brazilian rainforest and is protected by mischievous creatures called Caipora that are said to resemble small dark-skinned humans with red hair though their description varies mythology-wise.

Aside from the recent fire that’s been affecting Brazil’s rainforests as of late, which would certainly pose an environmental hazard if this school existed to this day, rainforests are generally humid hot and full of poisonous creatures that are even parasitic in some cases. Now Pottermore says the students at Castelobruxo wear “Bright green robes” that wouldn’t feel great in contrast to the heat and humidity, plus one wouldn’t be able to go anywhere outside of the school without considering the natural dangers of the rainforest both big and small.

6 Best - Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Much like Hogwarts, Ilvermorny is known for being more democratic than most Wizarding Schools within the Harry Potter world in terms of admitting students of Muggle-Born and Pure-Blooded heritage. Though the school’s early history was plagued with tragedy, it grew in popularity during the early Twentieth Century particularly in the 1920s when the first Fantastic Beasts movie takes place making it one of the best.

RELATED: HARRY POTTER: 10 THINGS THAT NEED TO HAPPEN BEFORE THE FANTASTIC BEASTS SERIES ENDS

While new students are sorted into different Houses, they are also given their first wands at the school as well. The reason for this is that until 1965 “No child was allowed a wand until they arrived at Ilvermorny” as stated by Pottermore. The school even teaches unique subjects, including Xylomancy (a type of Divination that uses twigs).

5 Worst - Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts

Given the wide variety of topics and career options that are present in most Wizarding Schools in the Harry Potter world, who would go to one that offers a singular topic and career path? Well, apparently some as there is a Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts available in Great Britain.

As the name implies, it’s a school where wizards and witches can study theatre or performance arts in general for a career in it. While magic and theatrics certainly can go in hand, given the history of stage magicians and illusionists, it seems like a limitation of one’s magical abilities. For this reason, it is arguably one of the worst schools to go to for general education.

4 Best - Beauxbatons Academy of Magic

Compared to the other Wizarding Schools discussed so far, this one gets top marks for being one of the prettiest schools in the Harry Potter world. Situated in the Pyrenees Mountains along the border between France and Spain, Beauxbatons (pronounced ‘Bo - batton’) is described by Pottermore as being “A chateau surrounded by formal gardens and lawns created out of the mountainous landscape by magic”.

RELATED: HARRY POTTER: 10 FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT BEAUXBATONS ACADEMY OF MAGIC

It is even said to have a beautiful fountain with water that has magical properties in healing and beauty, named after the famous alchemist Nicholas Flamel and his wife Perenelle. With famous alumni like that, it’s certainly one of the best Wizarding Schools there is.

3 Worst - Koldovstoretz

Though not much is known about this school situated somewhere in Russia, Koldovstoretz does offer a more extreme version of Quidditch where the participants “Fly on entire, uprooted trees instead of broomsticks” according to Harry Potter Wiki. Despite sounding more cool, it doesn’t seem very comfortable from a practical perspective.

Another factor to consider is the environment, which would be far from pleasant given how cold it typically gets in Russia. So it doesn’t sound like an interesting school to go to, unless one enjoys living in extreme environments and being tough for the sake of it, which would put Koldovstoretz as one of the worst schools to attend in the Harry Potter world.

2 Best - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Despite all the times this school has been proven to be unsafe for kids, from having trapdoors guarded by three-headed dogs to chambers with giant snakes in them, it is the most widely recognized school in the Harry Potter world and therefore the best. Located in Scotland, the environment is lush and green while being consistently cold though not uncomfortably so.

Plus, it’s got a rich history with so many parts that are unexplored. Then there are the ghosts, whose presence certainly makes things more interesting on a daily basis, and the most likable teachers that are present at Hogwarts where there’s always something exciting to witness.

1 Worst - Durmstrang Institute

In spite of being one of the three largest schools on the European continent, with Hogwarts and Beauxbatons being the other two as claimed by Harry Potter Wiki, Durmstrang has a dark legacy that arguably makes it the worst in the Harry Potter world. Pronounced as ‘Doorm - strang’ despite what the spelling implies, this Eastern European school is so secretive that no one actually knows where it is.

This is largely due to the fact that those who visit Durmstrang “Must comply with memory charms to erase their knowledge of how they got there” Pottermore says. Durmstrang is also known for not admitting Muggle-Borns and having Dark Arts taught as a subject-matter, which ties into its history of being run by notorious wizards including a former Death Eater and having former students like Gellert Grindelwald.

NEXT: HARRY POTTER: 10 CHARACTERS WHO WERE FORGOTTEN AS THE MOVIES WENT ON

source https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-best-wizarding-schools-worst/

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sportsandevetstickets-blog · 5 years

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Sevens stars and the MLR-effect - why USA could be RWC banana skin

A year ago Gary Gold guided the USA to a historic win over Scotland and now the Eagles head coach is planning to use the international success of the country’s sevens team to boost their confidence at this year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan. Fans from all over the World can book Rugby World Cup Final Tickets online.

Mike Friday’s USA Eagles sevens held the No.1 ranking until piped for the title in the final tournament by Fiji and three of them players who helped secure automatic qualification for next the 2020 Olympic Games Sevens have been drafted into the 15’s training squad that assembles in Colorado this weekend for an intensive nine-week period of preparation for the Pacific Nations Cup and the World Cup pool matches with England, France, Argentina and Tonga.

Gold believes the experience of sevens captain Madison Hughes, Ben Pinkelman and Martin Iosef, who beat all of the major rugby nations on a regular basis, allied to that 30-29 win over Scotland in Houston last year can help convince his players they are capable of causing real problems in one of the toughest pool in the World Cup.

He told Rug bypass: It is feasible that Madison, Martin and Ben could be in the final squad for the World Cup and these guys grew up playing 15’s before moving over to the sevens. The other factor is that there is very different confidence around the seven guys because of what they have achieved on the World stage and I am hoping there will be a genuine cross over and understanding of what we can achieve.

Mike turned that sevens squad around in a short space of time and while I am not saying we are going to win the World Cup, I am hoping we can put up really big performances and we could be a banana skin for one of those teams. Our win over Scotland this time last year followed by the win over a full Samoa team in Spain plus the Sevens success allied to a settled squad gives us real confidence.

“We start our camp this weekend in Colorado and this squad of players really do know each other well having been together for 18 months and our aim is to put up some great performances at the World Cup. As much as we can, we will try and replicate the conditions in Japan during our preparations.”

Gold added: “The MLR is single-handedly the biggest game changer for us. When I started at the end of 2017 in this job, I met up with the players in Germany and there were guys in the middle of their European seasons and those from America who had not picked up a ball for three or four months

The MLR final was played at a packed stadium and was televised by CBS and people love it. Now, we have to make sure that financially the game is in a good place and there has been a really important decision to move the American Rugby Championship to August and September and with that one decision they have ensured they won’t be in a club v country problem. It’s a smart decision and will make a really big difference.

“The one area of concern is the number of foreigners in the MLR and that is something that will have to be addressed.”

Get the latest updates of the Rugby World Cup Tickets from our trusted online ticketing platform. Rugby fanatics can book tickets on reliable rates from our online ticketing market place.

#RugbyWorldCupFinalTickets RugbyWorldCupTickets RugbyWorldCupSemiFinalTickets Japan England USARugby

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